Transfering film to dvd

Thanks for all the great advice. The point about dvd's not lasting forever is well taken and I never would have thought about that. I also agree with the idea of not editing them.

How do they transfrer the film? Is it a special machine or is it just played back on a projector and video taped?

Any idea on how much something like this costs?

Perfect:

Not certain about the process, but have seen odd projectors (with blinders) that project to a small area (think this may be what was used on ours). I also had this done 17 years ago, so transfer methods may have changed/improved since then.

We did not have a duplicate film made, just VHS tapes as I was ateempting to keep the cost down.

My father had one reel done in Des Moines (just remembered this) and the rest were done in my area as it was less expensive due to the courtesy discount being offered. The lab also processed our B&W wedding photos as a favor, otherwise I would not have been able to afford the work @ the time.

Don't know if this would apply to DVD copies, but @ a later date I made VHS copies on an NEC deck and the copies looked better than the originals. I can only guess that the NEC had some sort of enhancement/filter features in it as the tape stock was from the same master case.

The piece of equipment is called a telecine. When I started in broadcasting in the mid 80's they were still around..but just barely..it is still they way that films are transfered to video. Basically a video camera is pointed towards a mirror...the film projector is pointed towards another mirror and then makes its way towards the camera lense. You can buy a home version, but like I said above..it's a lot easier to point it ast a sheet.
Steve